I'm Widowed, Now What?

By Evelyn Miller

A quick read with insight and direction to walk through the stages of grief. It includes gathered information, from fellow widows and a widower relating personal stories, that enhance your understanding of the grieving process, where shutting down does not enable healing. We must grieve in order to heal.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Oct 6, 2023
• ISBN: 9798385008148

Evelyn Miller

Evelyn is a twice widowed, Christian mother and grandmother. She was born, raised and currently lives in Northern California with her husband. She enjoys her times with family and friends. When first widowed, she found little to guide her through the grieving process. Then, as she watched friends endure the same tragedy, Evelyn realized that she must write this book, while relying on God's guidance to bring her through the most troubling times of her life.

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I’M

WIDOWED,

NOW

WHAT?

EVELYN MILLER

Copyright © 2023 Evelyn Miller.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

844-714-3454

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

ISBN: 979-8-3850-0815-5 (sc)

ISBN: 979-8-3850-0814-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023918000

WestBow Press rev. date: 10/02/2023

CONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter I

What you have been through

Chapter II

Discoveries on this journey through the grief process

Chapter III

The key people and how we did it

Chapter IV

What you may expect

Chapter V

Where we have been

Chapter VI

Looking Ahead

Chapter VII

Your Journey Back to the World

Closing

Helpful things to do

Acknowledgements

INTRODUCTION

Today, I woke up and turned to his side of the bed. Again, I only found the coolness of the sheets on the empty side. For many years I felt the presence of my husband next to me. Now, I wonder who I am and what MY purpose in life is. Oh, I have always had my own identity, and a full life, apart from my mate, but there was always this feeling that when the day settled down and the business of life was relaxed, he was there to share life with me. Having a husband doesn’t make me a good person but it sure gives me a feeling of importance. It is a great feeling to know you mean the world to someone.

If you feel like your life has drastically changed and you don’t know what direction you are going to take, you are not alone. As you read the following pages, hopefully you will not feel like you are the only one with these painful, empty, lonely feelings. Possibly and prayerfully, I hope this may bring you some semblance of peace.

In the following you will hear stories from others on how they handled getting through the first month, first special holidays, first year, cleaning out the closet and sitting down again to eat at a table, where the emptiness is very, very evident.

What are the tough things you are dealing with? Is it sleeping alone, hearing your favorite song, taking the now unused toothbrush out of the bathroom, clearing the cupboards of his/her favorite foods? I just want you to know the feelings you are having are shared by others. Hopefully, this little book will be helpful for you as you pass through this chapter of your life.

CHAPTER I

What you have been through

Being widowed changes who you are. You have been touched in a way that will influence how you view life, yourself, and the world.

Once you have been widowed, your entire world changes. You no longer look at things the same. The one you shared your life with has been physically separated from you, and you feel as if your heart has been split in half and the half you get to keep is under a ton of bricks. You cry, then